I want to clear my name Said Shashi Tharoor

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha for the first time since his resignation from the Union council of ministers, ousted minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said that he had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order an inquiry into the allegations against him in connection with the Kochi IPL franchise. 

"I have done nothing improper, unethical and much less illegal .... I have requested the Prime Minister to investigate thoroughly the charges against me,” he said. 

“It is important to me that my name is cleared, which has been besmirched,” Tharoor said, as he had lived a life of probity throughout his career abroad. 

"I have no desire to be an embarrassment to the government," he added. Tharoor said his resignation would strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues to go deeper into the relevant issues 

Tharoor also said he was deeply wounded by the malicious and fanciful charges. "I am new to Indian politics, but I have a long record in public service and have an unblemished record," he added. 

Tharoor also played the Kerala card while presenting his defense in Parliament, "I have returned to India after a long international career. I am proud to represent Kerala," said the former minister. 

The ousted minister, however, did not directly rebut the charges leveled against him by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. 

The former minister of state said it was a privilege to have served the government and the Congress party under the leadership of Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. 

A minister can give a statement within seven days of his resignation after advance notice to the House. Tharoor met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the leader of the House in Lok Sabha, on Monday to express his wish to speak. 

Tharoor quit on Sunday night after the Congress leadership concluded that his involvement in IPL Kochi controversy made his continuation untenable. 

According to sources, the leadership vetted Tharoor's statement. The government is focussed on the finance bill and is keen that Parliament is not disrupted in the coming week when the guillotine on the demand for grants comes up and is to be followed by the discussion on finance bill. 

Congress leaders wanted to be careful that the minister should not say anything in his bid to claim innocence which may ruffle feathers in the Opposition camp or reignite the blockade which, in fact, played a role in fasttracking the decision on Tharoor. The BJP and others had blocked the House on Friday and threatened to block proceedings again to press for his resignation which made the government anxious. 

Amid the IPL controversy where Tharoor was charged with helping close friend Sunanda Pushkar to secure "sweat equity" with the Kochi franchise, he was allowed to make a statement in Lok Sabha on Friday. An agitated Opposition did not let him speak and he had to table his statement. He had claimed complete innocence, saying he had nothing to do with Pushkar's "sweat equity".

I have done nothing illegal, says Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said in the Lok Sabha that he wants all the charges levelled against him investigated and hoped that his name will be cleared.

Speaking on his alleged role in the IPL Kochi franchise, Tharoor said that he resigned as the Minister of State for External Affairs from the Union Cabinet as he had "no desire to embarrass the government".

"My conscience is clear. I have done nothing illegal in the ongoing IPL controversy. It has been a great privilege to serve the Union Cabinet. I thank the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) and Sonia (Congress President Sonia Gandhi) for giving me the opportunity," says Tharoor.

"I am determined to do my best for India and the ideals that brought me here. I'm proud to represent Kerala's capital in the Lok Sabha," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram read from a prepared speech.

Admitting that he was new to politics Tharoor pointed out that had led a long public life. He also hoped that Parliament "will move on from here to deal with serious issues".

Tharoor was forced to resign from the Union Cabinet on Sunday following allegations over his involvement in the bidding for an IPL team.

The 54-year-old MP has been accused of helping his friend, businesswoman Sunanda Pushkar, in acquiring a stake in the Kochi IPL team. Pushkar, who received a sweat equity valued at Rs 70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchise, announced earlier in the day that she had resigned from Rendezvous Sports World, which is one of the stakeholders in IPL Kochi.

Modi quizzed for 8hrs

Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi was questioned for as long as eight hours over the financial dealings and share holding patterns of the cricketing body as Income Tax officials left his Worli-based office early today. 

I-T officials visited IPL Head-Quarters at Wankhede Stadium as also Modi's office at Nirlon House in upmarket Worli, where they quizzed him from 7.15 pm to 3.20 am. 

Lalit Modi, speaking to reporters later, said the I-T officials were visiting several places in the city in a bid to find out details of the bidding process and when he came to know of it, he invited them over to his office. 

"They were given documentation details; they verified the documents and went through the entire process of bidding. We fully cooperated with them and provided them with all they required," the IPL Commissioner said. 

Asked about the longer duration of the questioning, he said, "The questioning was over in a few minutes, but it took them longer as they had to go through the documents." 

Modi said the officials saw the documents related to bidding by new franchisees owned by Sahara and Kochi consortium as well as those related to other IPL franchisees. 

"They were very much satisfied. We are a public body and if they have more queries, we will answer them," he said on whether I-T authorities sought more time to question him. 

The IPL chief rubbished media reports that his laptop was seized and unaccounted cash recovered from his office. "99 per cent of stories being put out by the media are untrue." 

According to I-T sources, the agency apart from probing the sources bankrolling the cash-flush league is looking into whether ill-gotten money staked away in tax havens like Mauritius has made its way into the IPL. 

Modi, the brain behind IPL, has been in the eye of a storm ever since he tweeted about Rs 70 crore Sweat Equity in Kochi franchise being held by Sunanda Pushkar, a friend of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. 

It triggered speculations about Sunanda being a proxy for Tharoor in the Kochi consortium, a charge which the minister has vehemently denied. 

Raising questions about the propriety over a Union Minister having a proxy stake in an IPL franchise, the BJP and Left have demanded Tharoor's resignation.

Sharad Pawar backs Lalit Modi in IPL Kochi row

Sharad Pawar on Thursday came out in support of IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, saying there was nothing wrong in making public names of the stakeholders of the Kochi franchise. 

"There in nothing wrong in disclosing the names of the stakeholders to the public," Pawar, former BCCI chief and ICC President-elect, said on Thursday. 

He was asked about Modi revealing the names of the Kochi stakeholders, one of them being Sunanda Pushkar, a close friend of the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor is alleged to have had a hand in Pushkar getting free equity worth 70 crore in IPL Kochi. 

Pawar was asked about questions being raised over transparency in IPL and allegations of underworld and betting syndicates pumping huge amounts in securing franchise. 

"If the IPL Commissioner or BCCI President is asking any information about any bid, they have got every right to ask for the information because unless and until they collect the correct information, they will not realise who are behind this," he said. 

The former BCCI President also supported Shashi Tharoor who helped set up the consortium which bagged the Kochi franchise, saying the minister's "basic interest" was to bring cricket to center stage in Kerala and provide opportunities to players from the state. 

"What my observation is that Tharoor's basic interest was that Kochi should get opportunity in the IPL. He was eager to show to people of Kerala that IPL is also a part of Kerala and wanted to encourage new players from Kerala," Pawar said. 

The Agriculture Minister hoped the IPL governing council meeting later this month will clear the "misunderstandings". 

"I am absolutely clear that when (BCCI President) Shashank Manohar will have this meeting, all misunderstandings will be cleared," he said. 

Pawar also said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had no role in the entire episode. 

"They (Kochi investors) met me once and there was suggestion that Kochi stadium will take a year or two to complete. So in the meantime if they play in Ahmedabad, that will be better. 

"But I advised them 'you have taken the option of Kochi. Please do not shift the place'. Fortunately that time Narendra Modi was in town. These people met Modi also and in my presence Modi told the investors 'Don't insist for Ahmedabad because you got this opportunity for Kochi," he said. 

Pawar said he did not believe Lalit Modi offered the Kochi franchise $50 million to back out. He also questioned the seriousness of the underworld threat that Tharoor is claimed to have received.

IPL Kochi franchisee spat sets up Modi - Tharoor clash

TIMES OF INDIA - The IPL-Kochi franchisee controversy took a new twist on Monday, setting the stage for a face-off between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor. 

In a day of fast-paced developments, Modi was threatened with legal action by the franchisee, Rendezvous Sports, and received an admonition from BCCI for revealing who owns how much in Rendezvous. He countered by accusing Tharoor of calling him up to ask him not to seek the identity of the Rendezvous stakeholders, though regulations make it necessary for the identities to be revealed to IPL. 

Interestingly, one of the Rendezvous stake holders made public by Modi in his tweets is Sunanda Pushkar, beautician-cum-socialite, who is reported by agencies to be on the verge of marrying Tharoor. Aides of Tharoor have refused to comment on the speculation on the ground that "it is an absolutely private matter". 

Pushkar is said to divide her time between Mumbai and Dubai. According to Modi, she owns 18% of Rendezvous shares, though TOI could not confirm this independently. On the agreement papers, she is said to be a resident of Jammu Tawi. 

What lends intensity to the unfolding drama is the suspicion that the IPL bosses - unhappy with Rendezvous gate crashing into the bidding - may be pressuring it to vacate the slot for an established corporate entity. The matter has taken on the dimension of a powerplay - not of the Twenty20 kind - with political circles buzzing about Tharoor lobbying Congress bigwigs to beat back the bid to get Rendezvous to leave Kochi. 

Even if true, this failed to deter Modi from digging in his heels. A combative IPL commissioner reacted to a letter of rebuke by BCCI chief Shashank Manohar by insisting that his disclosure of the Rendezvous ownership pattern did not amount to breach of regulations. In fact, he alleged that the Kochi franchisee had a "lot to hide" and "have lied about who is the actual owner of the shares."